Broken And Glued Together
by Marymel
Summary: Greg comforts Nick...and tells him about the new team member. Spoilers for "Seeing Red". Nick/Greg established relationship. Don't like, don't read! Rated T to be safe!


**Broken And Glued Together**

**Nick/Greg established relationship. No likee, no readee!**

**One of my favorite episodes this past season was "Seeing Red," where we were first introduced to Julie Finlay. Since Greg was the first out of the team to work with her, I thought it would be pretty cool to incorporate that into a fanfic.**

**I also loved Nick in this episode, how he was so compassionate to Wes Clyborn. I've always loved how Nick leads with his heart.**

**As you can tell, this is a post-ep to "Seeing Red." Greg comforts Nick after the truth in the Clyborn case come to light...and Nick wants to know about Russell's former colleague who cracked the case.**

**I do not own CSI.**

This had been one of those cases Nick Stokes just couldn't switch off. Normally he could go home and fall asleep on his sofa while watching a movie, and he had tried to do so. But his mind couldn't shut off the events of this case. Wes Clyborn had crashed his car just a few feet away from where he and Morgan Brody were getting a bite to eat and was covered in blood from what the two CSIs assumed were the gunshot wounds on his body. Over the course of the case, Nick interviewed the young man and had come to empathsize with him. When the facts of the case came to light, Nick couldn't stop feeling sorry for the young man even though two people were dead because of his actions.

Now here he sat on his sofa, drinking a bottle of water and wondering how a young man who seemed to have so much potential could throw it all away. Even if he couldn't remember what had happened, Wes Clyborn was now going to face the consequences.

Nick was contemplating getting a beer when he heard a knock at his door. Getting up and looking through the peephole, he saw the welcome sight of his boyfriend, Greg Sanders.

Greg smiled when Nick opened the door. "Thought you might want some company."

Nick smiled and sighed. He held open the door and gestured to Greg to come in.

When the younger man entered, he turned to his handsome boyfriend. "Heard you had a rough case."

Nick couldn't help but chuckle sadly. "Yeah. Wes Clyborn is going to jail, even though he doesn't remember what happened."

Greg patiently nodded. He knew Nick couldn't forget cases involving children so easily.

"Well, we did our jobs," Greg said.

"Yeah, thank you."

Greg looked at Nick, confused.

"For solving the case," Nick clarified. Chuckling sadly, he said, "even if the outcome sucked."

Greg lightly chuckled. "You're welcome, but I can't take all the credit."

Now it was Nick who looked confused.

"I worked with Russell's colleague," Greg said. "The Blood Whisperer, he called her."

Nick's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah, her name's Julie Finlay, but she's called Finn. She asked Russell for his best mind to help with the case and he recommended me." Greg shrugged and mischeviously grinned.

Nick couldn't help but smile at the younger man. "Who else?"

Greg and Nick shared a soft laugh. "She was pretty cool," Greg continued. "She worked with him back in Seattle, and there may be a story there."

Nick raised his eyebrows and smiled. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Anyway, she was the one who worked with all the blood evidence. I just helped her recreate one event."

Nick smiled. "What's she like?"

Greg raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "Beautiful, driven, really knows her stuff. She's the one who did all the heavy lifting."

"Well, you both did good work," Nick said with a shrug.

Greg held Nick's gaze. He knew Nick hated the way the case had turned out, but they did their jobs and interpreted the evidence to tell the truth. That was their job.

Even though he thought he wasn't good company, Nick was so thankful to have Greg there at that moment. Just being in the same room with the younger man was intoxicating to Nick.

Taking Nick's hand in his own, Greg rubbed his thumb along the back of Nick's hand. "I'm sorry."

Nick smiled at the younger man. Whether he understood exactly what Nick was feeling or not, Nick was forever grateful for Greg just being there.

Pulling Greg over to the sofa, Nick sat down with a sigh. "I know we followed the evidence and did all we could do, but..."

Greg simply reached over and cupped Nick's cheek in his hand.

"It's like...like the kid was broken and glued back together." Nick found himself fighting back tears.

Greg nodded. Sometimes just _being there_ spoke greater volumes than any word or raised voice could.

Reveling in Greg's hand simply caressing his cheek, Nick sighed. "It's what we do, I guess."

"Yeah," Greg replied. "I know this doesn't sound like much, but we did all we could do."

Nick smiled and nodded. The two couldn't go back and change Clyborn's past, and the young man had to face up to what he did even though he had little to no memory of the event.

Staring into the eyes of the man he loved, Nick found himself getting lost. "Thank you."

Greg smiled and placed a sweet kiss on his lover's lips. Pulling away, he found himself getting just as lost in the Texan's eyes as the other man was in his.

Caressing Nick's face in his hands, Greg pulled him in to a soft kiss that grew deeper as both men embraced. Pulling back for air, Nick once again stared into the beautiful caramel-colored eyes of Greg Sanders.

"Thank you," Nick said with a sigh. When Greg looked confused, Nick added, "Just for being here."

Smiling, Greg added, "Wouldn't be anywhere else."

The End.

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